A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Monday, December 01, 2014

Education – the Key to Transitioning Out Poverty

It seems so simple to me.
So Logical. It makes so much sense. And yet it seems that logic is
thrown out the window when it comes to the ways in which Charedi leaders in
Israel view it.

The ‘it’ I’m talking about is economically integrating itself
productively into Israeli society without sacrificing its core principles or way of life. Primarily by changing its educational paradigm of full time Torah study with
virtually no secular studies of any kind. And doing so for as long as possible
- well into an adulthood that includes large families.

This leaves those who ultimately feel the need to work with
no real marketable skills at an age where learning those skills far more difficult
– if not impossible. While it is true that thetype of study skills acquired in the course of their
Talumd study are quite valuable and proably surpass those of the average
Israeli – there are other basic study skills that are ionored which are
essential to the success of the higher
learning needed for better jobs. Those skills are better absorbed when learned
at an early age.

Aharon Ariel Lavi has written an insightful analysis of the
situation in Mosaic Magazine where he essentially makes this very point:

A cherished belief in the haredi community holds
that someone steeped in a decade or more of Talmud study is mentally well
equipped to excel in any program of higher education. There’s a grain of truth
in that. But while a background in Talmud can impart a relative advantage in
the area of logical reasoning, it is no substitute for mathematics or basic
science, or the ability to read and write in Hebrew above an elementary-school
level. Moreover, as anyone who has studied in a university knows, even those
skills will not take you far if you lack a reasonable command of English, now
more than ever an entry point to almost all disciplines.

One of the Charedi counter claims to this is that there are
schools increasingly being created that are designed to overcome this
disadvantage. And that they have been successful in producing Charedim with the
skills to compete better jobs in the workforce. According to Mr. Lavi that has been less than a
stellar success:

For the most part, current programs for haredi employment
in Israel take too literally a verse from the book of Ecclesiastes: “that which
hath been done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the
sun.” They supply single-dimensional training, usually for low-paying jobs. In
addition, instead of offering even moderate exposure to the outside world, most
programs have created cloistered, haredi-only training environments—even
separate campuses—and have persuaded potential employers to continue this
practice with those they hire. This might make sense in the short term as a
means of attracting young haredim, but in the long run it will prevent the
creation of successful networking, cripple flexibility, and constrict job
opportunities.

The bottom line is what I have been talking about for years now.
Without a basic secular studies program Charedim are ignorant in all areas beyond Talmud
study. To the extent that any have any education at all beyond that – is to the
extent that they are self motivated to seek it. And even for those that are highly
motivated to do so, such study which is extra-curricular and extremely is limited
by the little free time available to them. It is no substitute for the years of
formal study that they would receive in the classroom.

And yet implementation of the most basic core secular
curriculum is fiercely opposed by Charedi leaders. The pushback is harmful both
to the State and to themselves. And yet they are blinded to the the obvious
repercussions of such opposition. They argue that any government forced implementation
of secular studies into the Charedi schools system is anti Torah.

As I have said in the past, to say that it is anti Torah to
have a curriculum that includes secular studies is to paint the entire Diaspora
which has had secular studies programs in the most Charedi of schools since their
earliest days as anti Torah. This is pure nonsense. It casts aspersions upon
the Gedolei Torah that endorsed it. And sent their own children to those
schools.

When confronted by this contradiction between 2 worlds,
their response is typically something along the lines of ‘What’s right for
America is not what’s right for Israel’. I have always questioned that assertion. We do
not have 2 Torahs. We have one. If secular studies programs are valid here,
they should be just as valid there. So when the Israeli government tries to
impose such programs in Israel American Charedi leaders tend to cast it in the
same terms as their counterparts in Israel as anti Torah using the same
vitriolic language about it. To me this makes absolutely no sense.

Meanhwhile the poverty rate of Charedim keeps increasing
because of their fertility rate, the influx of Charedi immigrants to Israel, those
in the Dati Leumi (Modern Orthdox) world that have gravitated towards
Charedism, and the increasing number of Baalei Teshuva that choose the Charedi path.

When the status quo agreement was created that allowed
Charedim – almost of all whom studied full time in Yeshivos and Kollelim,
there were 400 such people. Today Charedim comprise over 1 million people. These
numbers will surely multiply exponentially as time passes. These increased numbers of Charedim will suffer
the same impoverishment that so many of them do now. And as their numbers increase with the
attendant increase in the number of uneducated and unemployed people their proportion of the entire population will increase…
and everyone will suffer. As I and many others have said, this situation is
unsustainable.

But Charedi leaders aren’t budging. This was recently
manifested in their announcement that they would not join any governing coalition
until all the ‘draconian’ anti Charedi legislation is reversed. Including restoring
to previous levels the funding of Charedi schools that do not offer a core
secular curriculum.

The question is, what can be done about it? If Charedi intransigence
is so strong, how do we overcome the necessary ingredient for economic success
of the Charedi world – which will in turn advance the economic success of the
entire country?

Mr. Lavi seems to acknowledge what many Charedim say. That government coercion of of a core secular curriculum is doing the exact opposite of its intended effect - because of the strong opposition by the Charedi leadership. He doesn’t think it’s helpful for the government to
keep insisting on a program that is being fought tooth and nail.

He has a few intriguing suggestions that he
feels might work in their stead. They are surely worth pursuing. But I do not agree with abandoning the determination
of the government to condition funding of Charedi schools on the implementation of a
core secular curriculum. Because only a universal program that has the force of
the government behind it will have any chance at countering the massive Charedi
opposition to it. Eventually the unsustainability of continuing the ‘ways of old’
will kick in. There has to be an educational infrastructure in place for
them to pick up the pieces.

Mr. Lavi ends by saying we should be ‘Increasing haredi integration
in a way that does not undermine the community’s way of life’. I agree with him. But I do not think that taking a few hours
out of the school day to study a core secular curriculum will change their way
of life. What it will change is their economic status from one of poverty to
one of self sustenance.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.